The present disclosure relates to how to determine a position of a radio frequency (RF) coil in a magnetic resonance imaging (MM) system.
In a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, radio frequency (RF) energy may be used to excite hydrogen atoms in a body of a subject such as a patient, so that the hydrogen atoms may resonate, that is, the hydrogen atoms may enter into an excited state. Subsequently, the excited hydrogen atoms may return to their original state after the RF energy excitation is terminated. The process wherein hydrogen atoms in excited states return to their original states, may be called relaxation. An RF coil may be located around a scanned region of the subject, and signals related to the relaxation, such as time duration of the relaxation and the like, may be acquired according to the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance. Hereinafter, signals acquired by an RF coil may be referred to as relaxation signals, and the relaxation signals may be used to reconstruct an image of the scanned region. In nuclear magnetic resonance, the scanned region is generally referred to as a field of view (FOV).
In an MRI system, an RF coil may play a critical role in the overall performance of the system. For example, the RF coil may be composed of a plurality of coil units, and each of the coil units may have a relative small area. In order to improve the acquisition quality of relaxation signals and reduce undesirable noise, it may be required to determine, among the coil units, which are covering at least one part of the FOV and which are not covering the FOV. For example, a coil unit covering at least one part of the FOV may be named as an effective coil unit and may acquire a relaxation signal of a relative good intensity and quality. A coil unit not covering the FOV may be named as an ineffective coil unit and may acquire a relaxation signal of a relative poor intensity and quality. The ineffective coil unit may have negative effect on imaging, and may even cause signal interference to the acquisition of the effective coil unit. For example, during the process of an MRI operating, if only the coil units covering at least one part of the FOV (i.e. effective coil units) are activated and the coil units not covering the FOV (i.e. ineffective coil units) are deactivated, relaxation signals of a relative high intensity and quality may be acquired without undesirable signal interference and noise.
Effective coil units among the RF coil may be manually determined. For example, effective coil units may be determined by visual inspection according to an instruction of a laser-positioning light.
NEUSOFT MEDICAL SYSTEMS CO., LTD. (NMS), founded in 1998 with its world headquarters in China, is a leading supplier of medical equipment, medical IT solutions, and healthcare services. NMS supplies medical equipment with a wide portfolio, including CT, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), digital X-ray machine, ultrasound, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Linear Accelerator (LINAC), and biochemistry analyzer. Currently, NMS' products are exported to over 60 countries and regions around the globe, serving more than 5,000 renowned customers. NMS's latest successful developments, such as 128 Multi-Slice CT Scanner System, Superconducting MRI, LINAC, and PET products, have led China to become a global high-end medical equipment producer.